Exclusive! Shokiwala is an intense love story in a rural set up, says its director, Jocky

Debutant director Jocky is ecstatic; his film, Shokiwala, which has Krishna Ajai Rao and Sanjana Anand in the lead, was recently cleared with a clean U/A certificate clearing the decks for its theatrical release. “Now we’ve just got to wait for theatres to be back at 100% capacity, which means Covid-19 cases have to drop quite a bit. Ideally, I want the film to be out as soon as theatres are fully functional, but given that the January releases have already been pushed ahead, and rumours of a possible lockdown in Karnataka in early February, there will be quite a backlog by the time theatres reopen and are allowed to function at maximum capacity,” says Jocky.

So, what is Shokiwala about? “This film is a romantic comedy, from the perspective of a rural guy, who wants to fall in love and then get married. But for some strange reason, no girl falls for him. How he goes about wooing the heroine, the daughter of the village head, whom he meets at a wedding, forms the crux of the story. In fact, the heroine is the village sweetheart, with many others also pining for her attention. But the hero picks up fights with these potential suitors, as he firmly believes she is his soulmate. We have presented this as an entertainer, with ample comedy. Incidentally, this is Ajai Rao’s first time as a character from a rural area. The film was majorly shot in Channapatna, Srirangapatna, Mandya, Magadi and Mysuru,” explains the filmmaker, adding that he developed the screenplay based on a story written by his friend, Arun.

Shokiwala, produced by Crystal Park Cinemas, also stars Sharath Lohitashwa, Giri Shivanna, Tabla Nani, Aruna Balraj and Nagaraj Murthy, among others. Music is by Sridhar V Sambhram for songs written by Jayant Kaikini, Nagendra Prasad and Chetan Kumar.